Librarian
Online Resources
- Cities and Buildings DatabaseSupported by the University of Washington, this database contains images of buildings and cities from around the world. A perfect choice for sprucing up presentations - just be sure to credit them!
- City LabFormerly The Atlantic Cities, this web magazine provides cutting-edge ideas and investigations into urban development and communities around the world.
- Hennepin County Library Special Collections - Minneapolis CollectionLocated on the fourth floor of the downtown-Minneapolis ibrary, HCLib Special Collections include lots of primary sources about planning in Minneapolis, including the records of planning departments, the Park Board, and the local Model Cities program. Look for their impressive urban-renewal collection, one of the nation's largest &8213; for building permit index cards; and for digital maps and atlases.
- Minneapolis Issues ForumAn online forum for neighbors to discuss local government and planning issues. Note: this source may contain inaccurate information!
- Minnesota CompassExcellent Compendium of maps, demographic data, economic reports, and focused topics pages on issues that include housing and immigration.
- MSP Regional indicators DashboardA 3-page document full of infographics that outline the social and economic characteristics of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro.
- NETR Historic AerialsThis is a company that let you view historic aerial photos by location. The photos have watermarks unless you buy them, but there's no charge for looking at them.
- Ramsey County Historical SocietyThe independent, nonprofit Ramsey County Historical Society, representing one of the three oldest counties in Minnesota, has more than 6,000 images online; go to their online collections database to jump in. Keyword searches by street names are a good way to start.
- Ramsey County Property MapA GIS map of properties in Ramsey County, which includes layers for historical aerial views, property records, and more.
- St. Paul Issues ForumAn online forum for neighbors to discuss local government and planning issues. Note: this source may contain inaccurate information!
- St. Paul Public Library Special CollectionsIncludes city reports and documents, maps and atlases, city directories that list every resident and business over a broad time period. The site also provides links to digital collections of historical photos and Winter Carnival scrapbooks.
- streets.mnA transportation and land use news site, written by local thinkers, planners, and activists.
Find a Research Topic
- Gale ebooks This link opens in a new windowSearch thousands of electronic reference books on every subject from leading publishers. Search all titles simultaneously or browse titles by collection.
- Browse the Journal of Urban StudiesGives you a list of articles published in the scholarly journal called "Urban Studies." If you find an interesting article, you can do more research on that topic.
- Journal of Public Transportation"An international journal containing original research and case studies associated with various forms of public transportation and related transportation and policy issues."
- Brookings Cities and RegionsA great place to find articles that might spark your research interest. Also includes some quality reports and profiles.
- Urban Institute reportsA collection of reports that focus on issues affecting urban communities. A place to get research topic ideas and citable reports.
Find Databases
- Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new windowA good place to see if there are articles that cover what you are interested in researching.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowFull-text articles on most academic topics, often spanning the entire run of academic journals.
- US Newsstream This link opens in a new windowIncludes newspaper articles from almost a thousand newspapers with coverage going back to 1986. Excellent place to find newspaper coverage on new developments or urban planning topics. Watch out - these are not peer-reviewed or scholarly sources!
- Social Explorer This link opens in a new windowA demographic data visualization tool. Use Social Explorer's demographic data to examine trends, compare variables and time periods, and create reports, neighborhood profiles, and multivariable maps.
- Social Services Abstracts This link opens in a new windowProvides abstracts and bibliographic citations for current research in social work, human services, and related areas such as social welfare, social policy, and community development. Does not contain full-text.
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowProvides abstracts and citations for international research in sociology, social work, and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Covers current research on sociology, social work, urban studies, social welfare, social policy, community development, and more. Indexes articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers, and working papers. Does not contain full-text.
Find Books
Building an Emerald City by Call Number:Published in 2012. "...[T]he story of how Seattle transformed itself into a leader in sustainable "green" building, written by one of the principal figures in that transformation. It is both a personal account--filled with the experiences and insights of an insider--and a guide for anyone who wants to bring about similar changes in any city."
The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Call Number:NA9108 .J3 1992 (Library Basement)In one of urban studies' most iconic and influential texts, Jacobs assails mid-century planning and identifies the key ingredients of urban vitality.
Twenty-First Century Gateways by Call Number:Publication Date: 2008"Twenty-First Century Gateways focuses on the fastest-growing immigrant populations among "second-tier" metropolitan areas including Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, and Washington DC."
Urban Planning and the African-American Community by Call Number:HT167 .U7277 1997 (Library 3rd Floor)"Chapters examine: the racial origins of zoning in US cities; how Eurocentric family models have shaped planning processes of cities such as Los Angeles; and diversifying planning education in order to advance the profession. "
The City Reader by Call Number:HT151 .C586 1996 (Library Third Floor)"[C]ontains essays by Ebenezer Howard, Robert Park, Lewis Mumford, Raymond Unwin, Peter Hall and Mike Davis."
Mega-Projects by Call Number:Published in 2003. "In MEGA-PROJECTS, Alan Altshuler and David Luberoff analyze the unprecedented wave of large-scale (mega-) public investments that occurred in American cities during the 1950s and 1960s; the social upheavals they triggered, which derailed large numbers of projects during the late 1960s and early 1970s; and the politicalimpulses that have shaped a new generation of urban mega-projects in the decades since. "
Cities of Tomorrow by Call Number:"Reviews the development of the modern planning movement over the entire span of the twentieth-century and beyond Draws on global examples throughout, and weaves the author's own fascinating experiences into the text to illustrate this authoritative story of urban growth."
URB 381-A (Christiansen) City and Regional Planning Tutorials
Finding property information and historical aerials
To view in fullscreen, click the monitor icon on the bottom-right corner of the video once it starts playing.
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Finding Government Documents Using Google and the site: Command
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Finding Demographic Information with MN Compass and Social Explorer
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Creating Stories with Social Explorer - NOTE: You will need to create an account using your Augsburg email!
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